I have long wanted to provide a way for the family to “see” how much energy is being used at any given moment so they can get a feel for what uses the most. I had plans to incorporate toroid pick ups in the two hot lines in the breaker panel.

Thankfully, the late overall awareness of energy cosumption has intiated the creation of many products which will “read your ac power meter” and provide a display in the confort of your home.

I have ordered a Blue Line Power Meter from Northern Tool to solve this monitoring question.

The most interesting part of this is the unit that harmlessly clamps onto the glass of your power meter and, it appears, to monitor the spinning wheel. This is a great idea since you are monitoring the very same energy measurement device used by the power company.

Note to potential buyers… Despite the claim on Blue Line’s web site their product works on all meters, it appears it will not work on meters that do not have a spinning wheel. More and more AC power meters do not have the wheel visible. Make sure you power meter has a visible wheel before considering this device.

Come back to this site for updates and progress on how this meter works. I will make regular reports after installation and during use throughout the coming year.

Update:

• http://www.cosjwt.com/blog/energy/blueline-power-cost-meter.html